Rainbow Hospitality in Australia – Tathra – Lawson

On the coast, in Tathra, we were greeted wonderfully by Neroli, Claire and Eddie (14 years old). We were supposed to come only for dinner and ended up staying for two nights! We had brought the champagne because the bill allowing same-sex marriage had just been voted in Australia the day prior to our visit. Eddie was involved in the debate because he had written to the prime Minister and he was mentionned both in the press and in the parliament debate. On the day of the vote, his moms and he went to Parliament to see the voting process and live the emotion of a historic moment for all those who fought for equality. We discussed late at night, talking about the law, sex families, traveling… Neroli and Claire crossed Australia on a Camping trip with Eddie for four months. We enjoyed exchanging what we get from such experiences.

Despite a busy schedule, Eddie (who works on Saturday afternoon and is volunteering as a lifeguard “Surf Life saver”) spent a lot time playing with Sacha who was sooooo happy! Neroli and Claire who had an even more busy schedule, yet accompanied us to the beach and Neroli gave a surfing class to Sara and lent a body board to Sacha to “play in the Waves “. That was an unforgettable moment and completely “Aussie” (Australian), a real immersion into the seaside culture , surfing and sharing. Neroli believes it is very important to get involved in the life of the community, she is herself a volunteer instructor for nippers : young people who are preparing to become a “life saver”. Children can participate in “training programs” from the age of 6 or 7 to learn and discover the activities of the volunteer lifeguards of Australia.

Thanks to Vanessa, our main contact of “Rainbow Families” association in Sydney, we have been in contact with a family in the Blue Mountains: Juliette, Shelby and their kids Ben and Eleanore. It was very nice to these two moms to host us. Sacha was very happy to play with Ben and his legos, to disguise himself, to jump on the trampoline and to watch tablet games and cartoons. Yes, this house was a little Paradise for Kids! For us it was also a great moment meeting with Shelby and Juliet and Juliet’s mom, Marta and her husband Collin. They prepared us a barbecue (as do the Australians:)) with delicious meat and vegetables (and mushroom) from the garden. Speaking of garden, theirs is great: it looks like a playground, there is a trampoline, plenty of room to play in the grass, a vegetable garden and a chicken coop with 2 hens that provide the fresh eggs! They left Sydney a few years ago and came to live in the country to have a life closer to nature, a good air to breathe, more room, a beautiful house. At the end of the street is a hiking trail that goes into the forest. We discovered a small quiet waterfall, we were the only ones here, to enjoy this beautiful place. We understand their choice!

The Christmas party of Eleonore’s school took place during our stay and Juliette took care to call so that we could come and accompany the children and Sacha receive a gift from the hand of Santa Claus like all the others. It was a beautiful moment of discovery and joy!

Despite the decorations and costumes, we found weird this Christmas spirit in T-shirt and sandals by 30 °! It’s a habit to take!

Thanks to these families, we met incredibly generous and loving people, had a great time, discovered the lives of families in Australia from the inside. We are fortunate and very grateful.